Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Melaleuca quinquenervia extract and uses of the same. The extract is useful for inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway, and particularly useful for inhibiting the transcription activity of β-catenin and/or inhibiting the combination of β-catenin and T cell factor/lymphoid enhancer factor (TCF/LEF).
Description of the Related Art
A tumor is referred to as abnormal lesions of cells. Such lesions are caused by a variety of carcinogenic factors that affect the normal regulation of cells in a local tissue of human body at the gene level and result in abnormal proliferation and lumping of cells, called a “tumor.” A “cancer” is the most common tumor type in which the abnormal proliferating cancer cells will not only assemble to become lumps, but also spread and metastasize to other tissues or organs in the body. The proliferation and metastasis of cancer cells may lead to severe abnormal physiological functions that are difficult to be cured. Therefore, cancer has been one of the top causes of human death over recent years.
Traditional treatments for tumors include surgical treatment, chemical treatment, radiation treatment, etc. However, surgical excision of tumors cannot effectively cure tumors, because incompletely excised tumor cells may continue growing and make the condition of the patient worse. Therefore, in addition to surgical excision, tumors must be treated concurrently with other treatment(s), such as chemical or radiation treatment. Chemical treatment is conducted by exposing tumor cells that are growing rapidly to chemicals with cytotoxic effects. However, most medicaments used in chemical treatment also have harmful effects on normal cells. For example, chemical treatment usually induces severe side-effects in cancer patients, which include emesis, baldness, fatigue, hemorrhage, anemia, etc. Radiation treatment can kill tumor cells by breaking the DNA sequence of cancer cells that divide more rapidly and are more sensitive to radiation than normal cells. However, high energy radiation will simultaneously irradiate normal cells when being used to destroy tumor cells, and such irradiation will result in side-effects, such as leukopenia, fatigue, insomnia, pain, inappetence, etc. In addition, the therapeutical effect of radiation treatment is poor for some patients in the late stage of the disease. Therefore, there is still a need in clinic for a method or medicament which can effectively treat tumors and increase the cure rate and/or reduce side-effects.
The present invention is a study for the above needs. The inventors of the present invention found that a Melaleuca quinquenervia extract is useful in inhibiting Wnt/β-catenin signal transduction pathway, and therefore can be used for providing a medicament for blocking the development of tumors.